Crocodile

A crocodile

Quotes about the crocodile.

• Ah, but I don't like crocodiles; I tasted them once, they're... they're... stringy! (The Twelve Labors of Asterix)
• Even if a pirogue stays in the river for a long time it will never become a crocodile (Malian proverb)
• What says the Nile Crocodile | that beats the rainbow tail | in the deep humus bend, | in the pool, in the waterfall, | in the turbid mud of the bottom | and above the sunny bank? | «The longed-for meal has been found! | Found! Found it!" (Lewis Carroll)
• Zoos mislead their visitors by the way different species are placed. The birds are naturally in the bird department, while crocodiles are always segregated in the reptile department with the other scaly beasts, devoid of feathers. In this way, the visitor goes home fully convinced that crocodiles are reptiles, while birds represent an entirely different group characterized by flight and plumage — "non-reptilian" traits. But the bodies of a turkey and a crocodile, placed next to each other on a laboratory table, would be able to highlight how wrong zoos are, when their respective stomachs were opened. The anatomy of their gizzards is strong evidence of the close relationship between the two animals and of the fact that they should be placed together in zoological classification, if not in zoos. (Robert T. Bakker)
• Crocodiles, very similar to those today, were the main competitors of theropods in the Cretaceous. However, it appears that crocodiles were less abundant in most Mesozoic deposits than in the subsequent mammal-dominated Cenozoic. They were also small in size: few specimens reached the size of American alligators or Nile crocodiles. It is possible that the theropods were eating the crocodiles. Even today, big cats occasionally kill a sizable crocodile. A tyrannosaurus could have chased one into the water and then swallowed it whole. It may be that constant attacks had suppressed crocodile populations, thus favoring smaller, more difficult-to-catch species. (Gregory Scott Paul)
• The sacred crocodiles belonging to the priests not only recognize their voices when they call them, tolerating being touched, but also open their mouths wide to allow their teeth to be cleaned by their hands and rubbed with pieces of linen. Recently then, my dearest friend Filino, who came to visit me after returning from a trip to Egypt, told me that in Anteopoli he had seen an old woman in a hammock with a crocodile that was comfortably crouched next to her. Then for a long time he has been circulating the story relating to the sacred crocodile of King Ptolemy, of which it is said that he had not wanted to respond to his calls and had not listened to his insistent prayers. According to the priests, the animal had presaged the death of the sovereign, which actually occurred not long after. (Plutarch)
• The crocodile! He made it all up too! Safe! The crocodile... Who would ever believe in a crocodile? Someone who stays naked on the beach all day.. with his mouth open.. (Leo Ortolani)
• The crocodile eats the man and then mourns him. (Italian proverb)
• In America you know that crocodiles | do they come out of the shower? (Samuele Bersani)
• Then [God] created the crocodile, and soon after the shirt. So he put the crocodile on the shirt, and it was a great success. (Job Covatta)
• Will you hook the crocodile? | Will you secure his tongue with rope? | Will you pass him a rush through his nostrils? | Will you pierce his jaws with the hook? | Will it make many supplications to you? | Will he say sweet words to you? | He will make an alliance with you, | so that you may take him to your service forever? | Will you joke with him like he's a bird? | Will you hang it on a string to entertain your girls? | Will the fishermen traffic in it? | Will they divide it among the shopkeepers? | You will cover his skin with arrows | and the head of crampons? | Get your hands on him a little! | You will remember the fight and you will not go back to it! (Book of Job)
• How many crocodiles, who pretend to complain to devour those who allow themselves to be moved by their complaint! (François de La Rochefoucauld)
• They say you eat too much, | never wear a coat, | that bites with its teeth, | who cries very often, | but when it's quiet | how does this crocodile do it? | How does the crocodile do it? there is no one who knows. | He gets angry but doesn't scream, | sip chamomile | and half asleep he goes away. (Zecchino d'Oro)
• Animals are domesticated through the advantages given to them. For example, the crocodile genus gets used to coexisting peacefully, in some regions, with priests following the care that the latter reserve for them by feeding them. (Aristotle)

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